It Made Me Realise
by definitivebliss
Summary: TUp. Taz and Up's relationship in a way you've never seen it before. Rated M for sexual references and swearing. Taz and Up may seem OOC but just be patient with me, it'll all make sense in the end, I promise.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know I still have to finish 'It Was You' but I came up with this the other night and it pretty much just wrote itself. I promise I will write the next chapter of 'It Was You' and it'll be up soon. And also, translations are at the bottom.**

I walked out the back door of my house to see the faces of my entire family and friends smiling up at me. They were all dressed as nicely as they could with the amount of money they had. With the robot wars currently taking over earth, nobody really had much money and even if they did they didn't go and spend it on expensive clothes or houses or anything like that. Most of these people hardly ever leave their houses except if they're buying food or going to school or work; pretty much anywhere that's patrolled by Starship Rangers. The only reason most of the people staring up at me right now are here is because we managed to get some rangers to come and 'stand guard' I guess, in case of an attack.

I closed the door behind me and slowly walked down the stairs as gracefully as I could in the puffy pink dress and heels _mi Madre_ forced me to wear earlier in the day. Looking at the _estupido_ dress while _mi Mama_ was carrying it into my room, I thought that it looked like cotton candy. I really wish it was cotton candy instead of an _estupido_ dress. I hate dresses, they're so impractical. How am I supposed to defend myself if there's a robot attack while I'm wearing this? I asked _mi Madre_ this and she just said, 'well, den maybe a handsome ranger will come and rescue jou and maybe jou two can get married'. What if I don't want to be rescued? What if I don't want to get married? These are questions I would never ask _Mama_, she'd yell at me and tell me dat if I don't get married what else am I suppose to do with my life? Do you not listen at all? I want to be a dead God damn ranger!

I reached the bottom of the stairs where I met _Papa_ and _mis hermanos mayors_.

"You look beautiful _mi hija_," _Papa_ whispered into my ear before grasping my hand and leading me into the dance floor where I was to have my first dance.

Now, _Papa_, he understands how I feel. He actually listens to me when I talk about what I do and don't like and how I want to be a ranger. When he saw my dress for today he made a comment about the robots also, but _Mama_ just told him to go away, it was _empresarial de las mujeres_. Women's business.

Over two hours later my head was spinning. I'd somehow managed to make my way over to a table and take a seat where I quickly removed my heels from my aching feet. After my first dance, I was forced to dance with my brothers, all my male cousins and all the eligible men in the town. This was so it didn't look like _mi Madre_ was trying to organise an arranged marriage for me and make it look like I took a liking to one of them and decided to marry him. But, I'm sorry _Mama_, that's never gonna happen. They're all dicks; the lot of them.

I looked up and immediately made eye contact with one of the rangers on duty. He must've been looking at me while I was taking off my shoes. He had short, light brown hair, striking blue eyes and through the material of his ranger uniform I could see that he was very heavily muscled. See, if I was going to marry _anyone_ it would probably be someone like him. Someone strong, attractive and smart enough to become a ranger. Someone who-

"Ahhhhh!"

"No!"

"Robots!"

The sounds of enormous crashes and screams woke me up from my daydream and I jumped up immediately, looking for a weapon. I looked over to my right and noticed a wooden broom near the side of the house. I sprinted the fifty metres from where I was standing near the table to where the broom lay on the ground, narrowly missing a body on the ground. I picked it up and squinted through the smoky haze that had become increasingly thicker in the past few seconds. I spotted a robot coming close to me so I quickly bashed its head which made it fall off and tumble away. Lasers were being shot all around me and I alternated between hitting robots with my broomstick and hiding where ever I could.

I heard the sounds of _mi familia_ screaming and I ran towards them but before I reached them I tripped and a robot grabbed me by my ankle and lifted me up effortlessly. The robot was carrying me somewhere but in all the smoke I couldn't see where. Around my other ankle I could feel a rope being tied where it was then tied with my other ankle. I was being carried away from my house, that's all I could tell. Then all of a sudden I was swinging and the broomstick was snatched out of my hands.

"I believe this is a game you puny humans like to play?" a robot asked from somewhere near my head.

And suddenly I couldn't think anymore for I was being hit in the chest and stomach numerous times by something. They're hitting me. _Los bastardos_ are hitting me with my own weapon? I'm a human _piñata_? I kept my mouth closed and squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to give them the satisfaction of making me cry out in pain.

The robots kept smashing me; trying to make my guts spill out of me, I figured. Where was the ranger _mi Madre_ was talking about that would come rescue me? I couldn't take it much longer so I screamed. I screamed and cried out as loud as I could.

"Help! _¡Ayuda! Que alguien me ayude!_" I can't believe I'm crying out for help, but how else am I suppose to get out of dths mess? The robots hit me again and it was even harder to breath. I took in the deepest breath I could and screamed one final time, hoping that someone would hear me. I waited while the robots hit me a few more times and I believed that no one was coming for me. This was it. This was how I was going to die. That was when I heard it. I'd given up but then I heard a voice, a man's voice.

"Get away from 'er, you stupid toasters!" _Cuatro_ shots were fired and then I felt no more pain. I relaxed slightly and breathed in and out as much as I could. "Are ya okay, miss?"

"_No, no estoy bien._ Do I look okay to jou?"

"Well, no, ya look like shit but it's a formality that I ask," he said and I laughed slightly but stopped when the pain in my chest increased. "I'm gonna shoot ya down and then catch ya, alright?"

"Okay."

He shot me down and caught me in his arms like he said he would and it hurt slightly but I didn't care as long as I was still alive.

"Do ya want me to carry you back or can ya walk?"

"I can walk, _muchas gracias_," I said and he set me down onto my feet. Once I was standing and facing my rescuer, I realised that it was that ranger, the one that I said was like someone I'd like to marry.

"Come on, we gotta get ya fixed up," he said and started to walk away.

"What do jou mean 'fixed up'?" I asked as I followed after him.

"You got beat up pretty bad; you gotta go to the hospital."

We walked along for a while in silence while I was thinking about _mi familia_. It hadn't hit me till now that they were all probably dead. I felt like crying but for some reason I didn't want this ranger to see me cry. I'd only just met him but I didn't want him to think of me as weak. As we were walking I thought I heard something behind me so I turned around slightly to take a look. Nothing, I should've known. Maybe I'm going insane, hearing things that aren't there. I turned back around and discovered that the ranger wasn't there. Where'd he go? He was just there a second ago! I kept walking and reached my house.

Everywhere I looked there were charred bodies on the ground. Family, friends, and people I didn't know. Then there were the robots. I saw one and kicked it. Okay, maybe that wasn't such a good idea, I thought as I sat down and rubbed my foot. Great, I probably just broke a few toes, that's all I need right now.

"Taz?" a voice came from behind me. I turned around and saw Edwardo walking, now running, towards me. Edwardo was a family friend of ours for as long as I could remember. He and _Papa_ had been best friends for their whole lives; he was like a _tío_ to me. An extremely creepy uncle who owned the town's two most successful businesses; the strip club and the brothel.

"Taz, _gracias a Dios que estás vivo_!" he said as he bent down and hugged me.

"Everyone's dead, aren't dey?" I asked and he nodded sadly.

"Come on, I'll take jou somewhere safe," he said as he helped me up then helped me to walk.

Everything else after that was a blur. We arrived at Edwardo's strip club which was surprisingly not destroyed where his wife and... ahem, employees were waiting for him. Edwardo sat me down on a seat where I laid down and partially listened to what he and his wife were talking about.

"She can't live with us!" Edwardo's wife, Rosie, screeched.

"What else is she going to do?" Edwardo asked.

"We've lost a few employees, how about if she works with us we give her a place to stay?"

"She's fifteen!"

"So? A lot of the girls dat work here are dat young!"

Translations:

Madre/Mama – Mother/Mum

Estupido – Stupid

Padre/Papa – Father/Dad

Mis hermanos mayores – My older brothers

Mi hija – My daughter

Empresarial de las mujeres – Women's business

Mi familia – My family

Los bastardos – The bastards

¡Ayuda! Que alguien me ayude! – Help! Someone help me!

Cuatro – Four

No, no estoy bien – No I'm not okay

Muchas gracias – Thank you very much

Tío – Uncle

Gracias a Dios que estás vivo – Thank dead God you're alive


	2. Chapter 2

_Three Years Later_

I walked out into the alleyway just behind Edwardo's strip club and took a seat. It's times like these that I wished I smoked like all the other girls did to relieve the stress, but every time I go to do it I stop myself and think that it's a filthy habit. But then again, my whole life is filthy. Filthy job, filthy friends, I don't, however, have a filthy house but that's only because my job pays so well.

9:27pm. Ugh, my break's almost over. I don't want to go back in there. The place is always so full of old men and I hate the way they look at me. But sometimes, just sometimes, there are younger men but I still don't like the way they look at me, at us. Just once I'd like to have _un novio_ that doesn't date me because I'm a stripper and expects that I'll give him what I give them at work, at home but for no charge.

Saturday nights always mean one thing; Starship Rangers. Since there's no training on Saturday afternoons and Sunday's and the starship base is close, they always show up on Saturday nights. I can't believe three years ago I was thinking about how I wouldn't mind marrying one of them one day. They're just as bad as all the other _culos_ in this town. All men are the same and they all disgust me.

I walked back into the club and heard the distinctive rowdiness that comes with rangers. The atmosphere is a whole lot crazier and everything's a whole lot louder when the rangers show up. I made my way up onto the stage and 'did my thing' while all the rangers gave me tips and drooled all over me. Disguising. Since Edwardo hires so many girls we only have to be out on stage for about five to ten minutes at a time before we get a break or have to go give private lap dances, lucky for me I don't have to do any of those tonight.

After going back out on stage, then off, then on again numerous times, it's finally 12:00am; the time I finish. Since I'm almost like Edwardo's niece, I asked him if I could finish earlier than all the other girls on Saturday nights, which of course he said yes to.

Makeup. I hate it so much. But not as much as my 'work uniform'. Ugh I look like a _puta_, which I pretty much am most of the time. I stood at the sink in the back room, looking in the mirror and removing my makeup. The back room was pretty much like a gym or high school locker room where each girl has a locker to keep their stuff in while they worked. I was still in my outfit but I'd found a robe lying around so I threw that on to cover myself up. Just as I'd finished taking off my whore makeup, I heard a knock at the door so I looked over there.

"Jeah?" I asked. The door half opened to show a man.

"Hi," he said uncertainly.

"Hey?" I said as I stared at him. Had I seen him before? Dose eyes seem a little familiar. Maybe try to imagine him younger...?

"I, um, this is gonna sound really stupid but I saw you an' I thought that I recognised you an' I thought I'd come talk to ya an' see if I did know you from somewhere-"

"Jou," I said, cutting him off. The man stayed silent. "Jou saved me. Jou're a ranger. Jou're _de_ ranger. De one dat saved me at my _Quinceañera_ when I was fifteen," I said almost in a daze as I walked towards him. "I'm Taz," I said as I held out my hand towards him.

"Up," he said as he took it.

"What de hell kinda name is dat?" I asked.

"What about Taz? That's a pretty weird name too."

I scoffed, "It's not my real name."

"Neither is mine," he said and I pushed past him slightly, looking around the corner.

"Come in before someone sees you," I said quickly as I grabbed his hand, dragging him into the room and closing the door. I walked over to one of the benches and sat down, "Come. Sit," I said when I saw he wasn't moving. He sat down next to me, but not too close.

"How old are you?" he asked, "you look barely old enough to work in a strip club."

"I just turned eighteen," I answered, "when _mi familia_ died when I was fifteen, I had nowhere else to go so the owner of dis place, a family friend, offered me a place to stay if I worked here and at his brothel."

"Ya work there too?" he asked, shocked.

"_Si._" I answered, looking down. I don't usually get embarrassed about working at these places, well to be honest I don't know anybody other than Edwardo, Rosie and the girls who work for them, but talking to Up about it, I was starting to feel embarrassed.

"Since you were fifteen?" he asked.

"_Si._"

"That's horrible."

I looked up at him, "Well, what else was I suppose to do? I was young and had nowhere else to go."

"Why do you still work here, then? You're eighteen, you could get a job anywhere else."

"De money's good," I said. This was the first time in years that I'd had a conversation with someone where they actually almost seemed like they cared about me, and it was with a complete stranger! "Do jou know how much I got paid today?" I asked Up and he shook his head, "Two thousand dollars."

"Holy shit!"

"Dat's right." I answered.

I looked up towards the door when I heard the sound of stilettos hitting the concrete floor in the hallway just outside the back room, then the sound of girls chatting. They'd finished too and now they were coming in here to grab their stuff and get outta here. What am I gonna do about Up? They'll tell Edwardo that some strange man was in the back room. Unless...

"Kiss me," I said suddenly.

"What?" Up asked, taken aback.

"Kiss me," I repeated, "Otherwise jou'll get in trouble for being in here! So kiss me! Now!"

Up just looked at me but then decided that doing what I say would probably be better than getting in trouble so he leant down and placed his lips on top of mine. Who was that gonna fool? I reached up and grabbed a hold of his hair, tangling my fingers and deepening the kiss. Up reached out and gripped my waist and the two of us kissed furiously.

The door opened and once the girls took one look at Up and I they muttered a quick 'for fucks sake' and left the room, closing the door. When the door slammed shut, the two of us broke apart but stayed close, looking into each other's eyes. Up's whirlwind ocean blue eyes were sparkling as we stared at each other. My hands in Up's hair started to loosen and so did his around my waist. We moved away slowly and soon I'd gotten up and walked over to my locker and opened it. Where is my change of clothes? I fished around in my locker and finally found a change of clothes and walked around the corner muttering a quick 'I'll be right back' to Up.

That kiss was so much better than I thought it would be. I wonder how old he is. He looks older than the last time I saw him. I guess being a ranger can be pretty stressful. What if he has a girlfriend? What if I just made him kiss me while he had a girlfriend, or even worse; a wife. But, why would he be here if he wasn't single? I'm sure his girlfriend, or wife, wouldn't be happy if he was here. I think I'll just continue to presume that he's single. I got changed as quickly as possible then came back around the corner putting my 'work uniform' into my locker. When I turned around I noticed that Up was looking at me. I looked down as I walked towards him, trying to hide my blush. Why am I blushing? I never blush and all of sudden a ranger is making me blush? What's wrong with me?

"Uhh... do jou wanna go grab something to eat?" I asked, looking back up at him. "The owner's wife owns a restaurant down de street and de owner here gave me a key just in case. So, I could make us something to eat?" Since I started working for Edwardo, Rosie had started to become a little nicer to me. A little.

"Yeah, sure," Up smiled as he stood up. I smiled also and grabbed his hand leading him through the back room and out the back door into the alleyway.

"If the owner of the strip club is a family friend and his wife owns a restaurant, why didn't you work at the restaurant?" Up asked me as we walked down the street on our way to the restaurant.

"Because de deal was dat if I worked at de _strip club_ and _brothel_ den he'd give me a place to stay. Jeah, I could've worked at de restaurant once I'd saved up enough money to get my own place, which wouldn't have taken dat long, and kept my dignity but de pay would've been horrible and I probably would've run out of money sooner or later."

"I see." Up said and we lapsed into silence. I realised that we were still holding hands and for some reason I didn't wanna let go. I can't believe he's the one who saved my life three years ago. Did I even say thank you? I probably didn't.

"Thank jou," I said suddenly.

"For what?" Up asked, looking down at me. He was at least a head taller than my measly five feet, well everyone was taller than me but he was a lot taller.

"For saving me three years ago," I said, "I owe jou my life, so thank jou."

"I was just doing my job."

"Well, jou still saved me. I _will_ make it up to jou someday, _señor_."

"You don't have to, Taz," he said, squeezing my hand slightly.

"Jes, I do. No matter what jou say, I'm still in debt to jou so I _will _make it up to jou."

"Whatever you say."

"Maybe I'll save jour life one day," I said with a laugh. As if that'd happen.

"As if that'd happen," he said and I laughed. How did we just think the same thing?

"What're ya laughin' at?" he asked, looking amused.

"I was seriously just thinking dat."

"Thinking what?" I explained to him what I meant and he laughed with me.

We arrived at the restaurant and I brought him around the back entrance, using my key to open the door into the kitchen. I turned on the light and thought about what to make Up and I. I walked into the supply room but then realised I had no idea what I was supposed to be making. I stuck my head out of the room.

"Pancakes?" I asked Up.

"Yeah, sure, that'd be good."

I collected all the ingredients and set to work making the pancakes, with help from Up. As I was cooking the pancakes Up said that he'd go and set up a table for us out in the eating area. When I walked out there with our plates I saw that Up had set up one of the booths with glasses of wine, don't ask me where he found the wine, and a few candles. When he saw me he jumped up and took the plates from me and put them on the table. I sat down in the booth and Up followed suit.

We ate our pancakes and drank our wine while Up told me about some of his missions and living at the ranger base. As Up finished his last story I could feel my eyes closing, today had been a very tiring day. I leaned my head on Up's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer to him.

"Do ya want me to walk ya home?" Up asked.

"Jeah, _gracias_."

Up picked up our plates, took them into the kitchen then we turned off all the lights and left.

Translations:

Un novio – A boyfriend

Culos – Assholes

Puta – Slut/Whore

Si - Yes

Gracias – Thanks


	3. Chapter 3

Up and I were lying in his bed watching my new favourite movie: The Karate Kid with Jackie Chan. The past couple weeks had gone by in a blur of Up and I seeing each other whenever we could, which included us watching movies, him sneaking me into the starship base which included once riding on Up's back pretending to be a backpack because 'I'm so tiny', and us staying at each other's places as much as we could. I guess you could say we were kinda together, but we'd never really talked about it.

"Hey, I forgot to ask jou... why were jou at de strip club de day we met?" The movie had finished so Up and I were just cuddling up in his bed for a little while until I had to go to work and he was going to work out in the base's gym.

Up laughed slightly, "It's not what ya think, a couple of my friends dragged me down there and said that there was this really hot girl there."

"Oh jeah? And who was dat?" I asked. I'm thinking it was either Lucy or Ariana; they always get the best tips and they always have the most guys drooling over dem.

"You," he whispered as he cuddled closer to me.

"Ugh."

"What?"

"Men are disgusting," I said burying my face into his chest.

"Hey!" he said pulling back slightly.

"Except for jou," I laughed then pecked his lips. It was the first time we'd kissed since the night in the back room of the club, but I was feeling extremely brave today. "How old are jou?" I asked suddenly.

"Twenty-five," Up answered, "why?"

"Well, jou know how old I am so I thought it was only fair dat I know how old jou are."

"Ya know... I don't think I'd call you hot, I'm not saying you're not because ya are but I think of you more as beautiful rather than hot," Up said while looking into my eyes.

"I don't think I'd call jou hot either, jou're more... handsome," I said, "I mean, jou're very _caliente_ but trashy girls call deir guys _caliente_ and jou're much better dan de guys _putas_ date." Before I had the chance to kiss him, Up had swooped in and kissed me instead.

From that day on, whenever we saw each other we pretty much just watched movies until we got distracted with each other and started making out. But one day, it went further than that. I don't really want to go into the details but he was much, much better than all the guys that pay me. I guess now you could say that we were definitely together.

I walked up to the starship base and waited just outside, where I usually wait for Up when I go to visit him and he has to sneak me in. I called him earlier letting him know I was coming, but there was no answer which is pretty normal considering he's usually busy with training.

"Hey! Are you Taz?" a ranger yelled as he ran towards me. I stood up immediately.

"Why? What's it to jou?" I asked.

"Up told me that if you came that I had to tell you that he's been sent on a mission."

"Okay, jeah, I'm Taz," I answered, "And what mission, he didn't tell me about any mission?"

"He only just found out about it this morning and he was in the meeting up until about fifteen minutes before he had to leave. It was a really big emergency so that's why they left so quickly. He told me he called you so many times but there was no answer. He said he feels really bad about leaving so suddenly but as soon as he can he's going to call you," the ranger said pretty quickly.

"Where is he going?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Q'onoS," he said, "I'm really sorry but I have to go. They're sending more of us over there soon and I'm one of them. But if I see Up I'll tell him I told you what he wanted me to tell you. Bye!" and with that he was gone. I watched him run back inside the base and I turned and ran home.

When I got home I cried. I cried for the first time in three years, for the first time since I was fifteen, for the first time since my family died at my own _Quinceanera_. I cried because I somehow knew Up going to Q'onoS was bad. Very bad. I knew I'd probably never see him again and if I did, I knew he wouldn't be the same. I had no idea how I knew this but I just had a feeling.

I opened my eyes slowly to a dark room. I was lying on my side and there was a weight on top of me, probably mounds and mounds of blankets, I figured. My nose was all stuffed up so I had to breathe through my mouth which made my throat hurt. I tried to move but my whole body felt tired and I moaned. My eyes started to close and all of a sudden I felt a hand on my forehead which was then replaced by a pair of lips. I sniffled and opened my eyes slowly and saw bright blue orbs looking back at me.

"Up," I croaked. What's he doing here? I don't-

"How ya feelin', Taz?" Up asked.

"_Como mierda_," I said. "What are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to be on a mission to Q'onoS?"

"What're ya talkin' about, Taz? Q'onoS was years and years ago," Up said while running his fingers lightly through my hair.

"I-"

"Bad dream?" I thought back to what felt like just a minute ago where I was lying in bed with Up, he looked... different. Nothing at all like the Up that was sitting in front of me right now. Maybe it was a dream? Well... of course it was a dream! I'm not a stripper! I'm a Starship Ranger!

"Jeah," I smiled slightly. "How long have I been asleep for?"

"All day. It's 8pm."

"Really? I think dat's de longest I've ever slept." I said and Up just chuckled. "Up, can jou cuddle with me?" I asked. "Please?"

"You must be sicker than I thought," he said with a smile.

"What do jou mean?"

"You've never, ever asked me to cuddle with you."

"Please?" I begged. Normally I don't beg, but after that dream I just felt different somehow.

"Okay," Up gave in.

I smiled and moved backwards so there was enough room for Up in the bed too. He climbed in, layed on his back and covered us up with all the blankets. Once he'd settled down and got comfortable, I cuddled up to his side as close as I could and he wrapped an arm around me. I put my head onto his chest and put my left leg over his, so I was practically lying on top of him.

"Do jou wanna hear about de dream I had today? It's probably de weirdest dream I've ever had," I said, dreamily.

"Well, of course I do, Taz," Up answered.

"Well, it started off at my _Quinceañera _but after jou saved me we lost each other and I had nowhere to go so then this family friend said dat if I worked at his strip club and brothel den he'd give me a place to stay..." I told Up the entire dream but left out some certain...details. "...And den I ran away and cried."

"You cried? That _is_ a weird dream," Up said once I'd finished my story.

"Hey, I cry sometimes," I said, "about de people I love," I whispered. "In my dream I was a lot nicer to people, but I don't think I'll be like dat with everyone," I admitted.

"Because you don't want to lose your tough-son-of-a-bitch reputation?" Up asked.

"Jeah, so, I'll probably only be like dat wit jou."

"Why only me?"

"Because jou've already seen me at my worst so if I act all soft around jou it won't make much of a difference." One of the things I love about being around Up is the fact that I can say whatever is on my mind without him judging me or thinking anything less of me because, as I said, he's seen me at my worst. "Te amo, Up," I whispered into his chest.

"What was that, Taz?"

"I-" I lifted myself off Up's chest and looked into his eyes. I took a deep breath, "I love jou, Up. My dream made me realise how much I love my life and jou. Without jou, my life wouldn't be de same. If jou hadn't brought me back to jour Starship wit jou when I was fifteen den my life would've been hell. Thank jou, Up. Te amo. I love jou." I bent down and kissed his cheek before lying back down on his chest.

"Taz," Up said sternly and I suddenly felt nervous. Did I do something wrong? "Taz, look at me," he said and I sat up slightly and looked into his eyes.

"Jes?"

"I love you, too," he said, "I always have and I always will." We both smiled and Up leaned up and captured my lips in a breath taking kiss.

"Dat was much better dan I imagined," I whispered as we broke apart.

"What was that?" Up asked.

"Nothing," I said as I laughed.

"You really need to laugh more, sweetie," Up said with a smile.

"Who said jou could call me sweetie?" I asked, faking annoyance.

"Me, the love of your life," Up said cheekily knowing that I wasn't really mad at him.

"Oh, shut up," I said and laid back down on his chest. "Jou know, I'm really glad I had dat dream, even though it was really weird, because it made me realise how much I love jou and how much I need jou in my life."

"And I'm glad you had that dream too because it made you realised the exact same thing I've been thinking about you since the day I met you."

Translations:

Caliente – Hot  
Como mierda – Like shit

Te amo – I love you


End file.
